A View from the Wings
by C.W. Smith
Summary: While Nerv battles the Angels, life still goes on for the civilian population of Tokyo-3. How are some of them handling this nightmare? A view from one of the students of classroom 2-A. Under Reevaluation!
1. First Day / The Small Adjustments

A View from the Wings

Chapter 1: First Day/ The Small Adjustments

By: Lord Deathscythe

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, nor do I own Gainax studios. This fic is going to be an SI first off. WAIT!! DON'T HIT THAT BACK BUTTON JUST YET!!! This is going to be a true SI. I am putting myself as an observer in Classroom 2-A and will tell the story from the perspective of one of the students. I will have no powers, no effect, and most defiantly NO EVA OF MY OWN!!!

Asuka and Rei are safe!!!

"I can't understand a damn word here," is all I can think, as my brother Michael and I stand outside Tokyo-3 Junior High. All the little squiggles and pictures, while completely understandable to everyone around us, are little more then encrypted code to our eyes. We just moved here from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas in the United States, since Dad got a transfer to Nerv Central. It came as a shock to all of us, and we had only had time to learn enough Japanese to communicate with the people here. Unfortunately, we still didn't know anything of these pictograms they use as a written language. It was… disturbing to be thrown into a situation where I couldn't understand what was right in my face. Michael doesn't let it get to him though. I wish I could be as accepting as my younger brother of our current situation.

"I can't understand a damn word here," he says to my side.

"Good, I thought it was just me. How in the hell are we supposed to find these classrooms if we can't even find the main office?"

"You're asking me?"

"Just voicing my concern over our situation. Good thing Mom thought about getting us here early so we would have time to find our places."

The wind picks up a bit. My brothers long blond hair gets blown against his face, obscuring the blue eyes of the only person I can understand here, both literal and emotional. The culture shock alone is driving me nuts; the inability to understand most of the people around here makes it almost unbearable. The only solace I can take is that in time I will grow above this. After all, the US is made of people who talk and think differently so I should be able to deal with the people here. Shouldn't I?

"Well, I suppose we should try to find out where we belong. You got your paperwork?" I ask him.

"Of course I do, what about you?" he replied in a very annoyed tone

"Got it. These transfer papers say I'm supposed to be in classroom 2-A, wherever that is. Maybe it's second floor or something."

"I'll be in 1-A, so if your right I'm first floor and your second floor. Well Chris, it should be easy enough if we follow that mind set. See you at lunch?"

We began walking towards the building. It would seem upon entrance that there was some room to the left with lockers, and some sort of cubby hole type things. Mom said something about having to change shoes when we got here, but I'm not exactly sure. Must be some custom to have multiple pairs of shoes for each place you go. I still was uneasy about this sort of thing. It seemed a waste of time to switch shoes for school, then to switch back for when we left. But as the wise man said, when in Rome.

"Sure. I wonder what food they serve in the cafeteria?"

"Probably something with rice and fish, I don't know."

"We'll see then I guess," with a smirk on my face I say my farewell to my brother. "Have fun."

"You too."

I part from Michael after we change our shoes. It's pretty early, so barely anyone is around. I make my way up the stairs and find what I believe is 2-A. The sign over the door being in Kanji leaves me only assuming, but looking in I find someone is even earlier to class then we are. As I enter the room, I see this girl sitting at the window, just staring out into what I assume is the schoolyard. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with quite that shade of blue for hair, at least without the tell tale signs of hair dye. I don't expect her to notice my entrance, unless she can see my reflection in the glass. I've always had a light footstep, and have been known to startle people without even trying. So when I get to her desk, I tap her on the shoulder to make my presence know. Something about her seems to… disquiet me. Her head turns to face me, bringing blood red eyes to bear. I must say, if her eye color is real then I am in for an interesting eight hours. I try to ask her a question, my Japanese still not very good.

"Excuse, is this classroom 2-A?" I ask in very butchered Japanese. Hopefully she understood me.

"Yes," is her reply, then she goes back to staring out the window. Well, at least I knew I was in the right place. I move around the classroom, waiting for someone who's a bit more sociable to arrive. I don't have to wait long, as another girl enters the classroom. She had brown hair and eyes, with her hair done in twin pony tails. At least she looked like she would be more sociable. I knew very well that while I came from a country that thrived on diversity, I was a stranger here. A stranger in a strange land. I hope they still don't use that gaijin epithet. I guess being on an island can make you kind of xenophobic. But its 2015, we're over those petty difference's, aren't we?

"Excuse me, miss. Can you help?" I ask. Obviously she's surprised to see me, a foreigner with dark red hair and brown eyes hidden behind my sunglasses. I forgot to switch to my regulars again. Not there two minutes and my little quirks are starting to come out. But it's so bright in here, I hardly noticed. I remove my sunglasses, and take out the case I use. Switching to my regulars, I put my sunglasses in the case and replace it in my pocket. Now that she can see my eyes I hope things will go easier. 

"May I help you, Mr…?" she asks me. I'm kind of surprised to hear her call me mister. I don't understand really, I thought everyone went on a first name bases in school. 

"Smith, Christopher Smith. I just transferred here." I reply with a slight inclination of my head. I know they don't shake hands here, but I'm still uncomfortable about the whole bowing thing.

"Well Mr. Smith, welcome to Japan."

"Please, it would be a big help if you just called me 'Christopher' or 'Chris'. I'm still adjusting to the change in things. And you are?" I ask, my butchering of the language and accent even I can hear making a mockery of the dialect.

"Hikari Hokari, I'm the class representative. I should have your transfer paperwork on my terminal, so you can take a seat right over there. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask your neighbor. Aida will help you out."

"Who?"

"Kensuke Aida, you'll be sitting next to him. You're not with Nerv are you?" She asks me, giving me the most inspective and questioning look I've ever seen. It makes me very uncomfortable.

"No, why would I be? I'm only fourteen." I ask Hikari. Why would anyone think a fourteen year old would have any sort of connection to Nerv save through family?

"No reason. Just be careful, we don't get that many new people here, and the class will start bombarding you with questions the first chance they get," she warns me. I guess I'm grateful for the advice. I just don't see how it would matter.

"Are there any other foreigners in this class? I would like to know if someone else is from the US."

"Sorry, you're the only one from the US. Our other foreign student is Asuka Langley Soryu, but I wouldn't try to get too close to her if I were you."

"If you say so, you know more then I do about how things work around here. Are the terminals multi-lingual?" I ask, hoping that this school has taken it into account. God knows that every language possible had to be provided for back home.

"Unfortunately, no. All of the terminals are set for Kanji. Nothing I can do about that."

"Okay, thanks for the help Hikari."

"Chris, I know you're still adjusting, but you should address me as class rep."

"Why?" I ask. I never called anyone back home by their school title; it had always been first name basis. Hikari can see the confusion just oozing out of my expression. This is going to be a very long day.

To Be Continued…

OMAKE

In the Darkscribes studio's, Lord Deathscythe continues work on "A View from the Wings" when suddenly he notices an aura around him. 

"What the hell is this?"

Instantly he feels nauseated by the glow, the dangerous and horrifying Glow of the DJ-Field (AKA Aura of Smooth). 

"SHIT!!" he screams as he starts swatting at the glow.

"Go away, damnit! GO AWAY!" he screams futilely, as the aura gains strength. The beads of light flying all around him like a nest of angry bees. Each trying to get at his self-insert fic to try to transform it from the good work it is, into a Mary Sue SI. 

Moving quickly, he reaches for a can of bug spray, fumigating the whole area. Alas, it is to no avail as the aura just gets brighter. 

Deciding a different tactic is required, LD takes out his lighter and turns the bug spay into a make-shift flame thrower. While some of the dimmer beads die off, the brighter ones just get brighter.

"DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!!!"

LD runs out of the room again, only to return in the outfit of a Catholic priest. He begins his own little exorcism

"The Power of Christ compels you! The Power of Christ compels you! I cast thee out foul Demon!"

This has little effect on the aura of Smooth. 

"That does it!" LD rushes out of the room to the Darkscribes storehouse.

"Where the hell is it?!" His cries as he digs through the old props. Finally he finds what he's looking for. One of the proton packs from his short lived and never published GhostBusters writing career.

He rushes into the room, Proton pack hot and ready. "Lets see how you handle a guy with a positron collider on his back!"

He lets loose with the beam of destruction, frying everything in the room. Unfortunately the positrons pass right through the aura, not catching a single bit of it.

Seeing he has failed, LD falls into his chair.

"This fic is going to suck!" he cries out. Suddenly the aura disappears, since it feeds on the authors feeling of superiority. Noticing the trouble has passed, LD gets back to work, and tries to repair the damage caused to his fic.

Authors Notes: Okay, I'm sure you can see how this is going to go. Trust me, it'll be fun. You'll like it and I won't even have an "Aura of Smooth." Also the Omakes will be fun too.


	2. The Day in Review

A View from the Wings

Chapter 2: The Day in Review 

By: Lord Deathscythe

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

As Michael and I made our way towards downtown Tokyo-3 to pick up some things we needed at home, I thought about the events of this first day. It had been one of the strangest days of my life. I wrote most of it off to being the new kid. Granted, I hadn't been the new kid for a long time. If anything, I had always been one of the kids who had always been around. Now I wasn't, and I sure did miss the security that position gave me. I suppose it's never easy to accept a change like this, so sudden and different. 

--

I sat at my desk, trying desperately to figure out what I was reading on this terminal. If this is what I'm going to have to deal with during the rest of the term then I'm going to fall so far behind there will be no catching up. I need a translator program or something, anything to figure out what is on here. I hope someone has time to help me out with this stuff. I looked up and saw two more students enter, a tall guy in what looked like a black track suit and a shorter fellow with glasses thicker then mine. They were talking about something, their speech too quick for me to pick up with my rather basic understanding of the language. Hikari talked to them for a quick second, and I assume one of them said something she didn't like, because she started twisting the tall ones ear. Mental note, do not piss off Hikari. She pointed in my direction, and I could make out my name being said by her. After she finished what sounded like a lecture and released the boy in black they came towards me, an odd look on the face of the boy with glasses. Somehow, I'm very worried by that look.

"Hey, how's it going?" they great me, seeming to be rather friendly. Hopefully I wouldn't offend them due to my almost complete ignorance of the culture.

"Alright," I responded. I was not that sure of myself in this situation, lack of understanding aside, due to the complete unfamiliarity of it all. The shorter one with the glasses was looking at me with an expression somewhere between disappointment and excitement. Maybe he was expecting a girl to be the new student, but was still excited to see a new face.

The taller one seemed rather weary of me, almost as if he's sizing me up as a threat. Not that I'm surprised, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. 

"Hikari told us who you are already. I'm Kensuke, this is Touji. Welcome to the class!"

Boy, this guy sure was… hyper. He reminded me of a few of the obsessive-compulsives I knew back home. I hope he's not gonna try to get me to trade cards or something.

"Thanks, what do I need to catch up on? I'd like to not end up too far behind."

"You know about Second Impact?"

"Yes."

"You're fine." They both said in unison. Odd.

I didn't quite know how to take that. As the duo settled into their chairs I decided to take out my notebook. My trusty notebook, the one I had used for at least five years. I kept every set of notes I thought might be useful in there, cleaning out the past assignments as the years had ended. I even kept notes on some things I had taken an interest in over the years. I still had notes on a paper I had done on Alien Abduction from a few years back. Granted, people had thought I was weird for it. Granted, people thought the pictures I had drawn for it were a bit too realistic. But that didn't mean I WAS weird, just talented in some ways. Okay, I'll admit I wasn't exactly normal back then. I'm not normal now, but I wasn't and still am not crazy. 

Kids kept filtering in to the room. I saw boys and girls talk with each other, but I found it odd that no one went near the blue haired girl. I got a few glances from some of the other students, some of the nicer looking girls, some of the guys wondering about this new factor in their world. I minded my own business for now, taking the time to get ready for class. I'd have time enough to get to know more of my classmates later. 

Suddenly, the light chatter of before class gossip was broken by what I would call an explosion. In fact, the amazing sea of red that walked in seemed to confirm this. Or rather, the girl attached to that sea. My first thought upon seeing this form was summed up best in one word.

DAMN!

Now, I have seen several girls in my time. A lot of them were very pretty, but they were always a bit shallow for me. Looks wise this girl had most of them beat. She had a nice body and a lovely face that must have been the ire of several of her female competitors. She moved with a sort of grace that was more that of a dancer then of a student. But there was something that ended my dreamy interpretation of the girl. Two things actually. Her eyes seemed to tell of some nightmare she kept chained within, even though they were of the brightest blue. They seemed much darker and older then a girl our ages eyes should have now that I look back.  

The other thing was her voice, or rather her yelling at the poor bastard who she had dragged in with her.

Boy, was this guy the meekest thing I had ever seen. Obviously he didn't know how to handle himself around people, let alone the firebrand who was know cursing at him in what sounded like German to me. I couldn't make out all of it, but from what I could make out I was glad I didn't have that much of a knowledge of the language. It now became apparent that one word summed up this girl and the boy.

Bitch and wimp.

Not that being a wimp was necessarily a bad thing. Some of us grow into our own faster then others, and some take a bit more time. It's possible that this boy was a lover, not a fighter. He could very well be and artist or musician for all I knew. He did have the look of a few people I knew who had been art students of some form or another back home. Fact was, however, that he was letting the girl walk all over him. Not much you can do about it, and it wasn't my problem to begin with. Someday he may be able to either tell her to go to hell, or marry him. 

Not that I gave a damn. I had just gotten there.

As the two settled into their seats, the boy close to me and the girl over by the class representative, an older man entered the room. I heard Hikari call out what I was able to translate as "Rise, Bow, Sit," and complied. It also meant I had to go up to the front of the class and introduce myself. I hate doing public intros, I never seemed to be able to sum up who I was in under thirty seconds. I stood up and walked to the head of the class, noticing that all eyes were on me. The sensei introduced me to the class and then it was my turn. Dear God, I bet I looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Hi, I'm Christopher Smith. You can call me Chris. I just got here from the US and I don't understand most of the language or writing around her just yet, but I'm very interested in the culture around here. If anything it should be interesting. Hope to get to know you all. Later."

I smiled to the other students and took my seat. I noticed a couple of the girls looking at me as I went to my seat. Didn't matter right now, I had all the time in the world. I broke out my pen and paper and prepared to take notes.

And that was where I wish I had some caffeine.

--

Mercifully, lunch came pretty quickly. Given the fact that I had given up trying to take notes, and had moved on to studying the local dialect and figure out some of the kanji, it had been the most boring period of time in my life. Kensuke and Touji weren't kidding when they said I was fine for knowing Second Impact.

I sat in the courtyard at one of the many tables. Mike had joined me as his class enjoyed the day. It seemed that he had already made a few friends, including one nice little girl by the name of Nozomi Horaki. I assumed that she was Hikari's sister, since the classes were rather small.

"I swear most of the class must have gone into a trance. The old man just rambled on and on and on with no end in sight. My neighbors just went to chatting on their terminals or catching up on sleep."

"Meet any cute girls?"

"That is so like you to immediately go for the basest discussion. There are more to girls then just looks."

"Not much more."

"You can be so shallow at times. Fact is that there are several cute girls in my class, but I won't try anything yet. I've already seen one who is beautiful on the outside, but her attitude is lacking. Another girl is simply too freaky to be concerned with right now. I doubt that she even cares for the other classmates."

"Really, you wouldn't happen to have been admiring their… physical attributes."

I shook my head. Michael, while my brother, was still young and a bit shallow. I was a bit better, but I had decided long ago not to allow my thoughts to be dictated by looks of people. I had learned the names of the red-head and the girl with red eyes. Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami. I assumed that Asuka was the other foreign student Hikari told me about. But it wasn't just their names. Something about the girls gave off a feeling of foreboding, as if they had some sort of field or a sign around them that said stay away. Come to think of it, the boy, Shinji Ikari, had the same aura around him. It was very… disturbing.

At that time our discussion, if it could be called that, was interrupted by Hikari coming over with Miss Soryu. Asuka had this weird look in her eyes, as if she were about to attack something. I got a cold feeling in my gut when I realized that I was the target of her glare. This probably wasn't going to be good.

"YOU!"

"Me?"

"You, what are you doing here?"

"Having lunch."

"Don't evade the question! Why are you here in Tokyo-3?!"

"My dad got transferred from Nerv 5 in Dallas, Texas to Central here. Why do you ask?"

I looked at Hikari for some clarification as to why I had been the target of the red-head. She must have understood my confused look, because she was the next to speak.

"We were just curious if you were a new pilot."

"New pilot of what?"

"You don't know? Your father works for Nerv and you don't KNOW?!"

"Dad's work is classified. I don't ask questions, it's not my business. Besides, why would I be piloting anything? I'm only fourteen, and there are laws against people under a certain age from being behind the wheel of anything."

"I can't believe you're so clueless. Don't you know about the Evangelions?!" Asuka questioned me.

"Of course I know about those, hard not to considering. But what does that have to do with anything? I mean, who would be stupid enough to put kids behind the wheel of a forty story super weapon? That's just insanely incompetent." 

I don't know what it was that I said just then, but Asuka seemed to go from zero to pissed in about three seconds.

"DUMKOPF!" she shouted, following it up with a nice slap to my cheek. Asuka stormed off while I rubbed the now reddened skin. I looked at Hikari questioningly.

"You mind telling me what that was all about? I know you are her friend and all, but I would like to know why she just slapped me."

"You really don't know do you?"

I looked at Michael, he was just as confused as I was. 

"Know what?"

"The Evangelions ARE piloted by fourteen year olds. Asuka is one of the pilots, so are Shinji and Rei. I'm surprised you didn't know about this back in the states."

"We didn't pay much attention to world affairs, that's our parents' domain. The two of us just try to get through school and life. You're only young and free of any real responsibility once you know."

Michael let out a disgusted snort. "What is it with you and the philosophy today man? If you don't stop it right now I'm going to smack you myself."

"Well it's true."

Our argument was stifled before it had a chance to grow by Hikari's giggle. What? We were not that funny to watch.

Before I had a chance to ask, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. I said my farewell to Mike and me and Hikari began our trip back to classroom 2-A, or as I would soon come to call it the seventh level of Hell.

"And what pray tell is so funny class rep?"

"The way you and your brother went at it, it just reminded me of how me and my sisters are."

"Would one of your sisters be named Nozomi?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"My brother is in her class. Don't worry, if we're careful he won't be able to try anything on her."

Hikari simply giggled again. When she wasn't in her class rep mode she was quite pleasant to be around. Who ever it was that she had her eye on would be a lucky man in the long run.

--

My reflections on the day was interrupted by a horribly loud siren. I wasn't sure about what it meant, but the way the locals were running told me what I needed. I grabbed Michael's arm and dragged him with the flow of humanity. He protested as he always did.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Look at what these people are doing, we got to get to safety NOW!"

"You sure about that? Shouldn't we get home?"

I stopped a man about 30 years of age, he had long hair which was pulled back in a pony tail and I could tell he needed to shave.

"What's going on?"

"Its an angel attack, you need to get to a shelter now while Nerv takes care of it."

"An Angel? We just got here in town, we don't know WHERE the shelters are."

A wry grin came on the man's face, probably wondering who'd be crazy enough to bring children into a war zone when they knew it was one. While he kept his thoughts to himself about the subject, he did decide to help us out.

"Follow me, and stay together."

We did as told, and arrived at the shelter with time to spare it seemed. As we went in I noticed our would be savior wasn't coming in. 

"Aren't you coming in to?"

"Can't say as I am, I'm needed elsewhere at the time. Just stay here until the all clear siren sounds and you two will be fine."

And so we did. It was a long wait.

--

No matter what the problem is, the worst part is always the same.

Waiting.

We sat in the shelter, waiting for death, waiting to be saved, just waiting. It was a trying experience, but from what I had come to know this was in fact the safest place for us to be. If what I had heard about these Angels were true though, a focused attack from the angel would make short work of this structure. I tried not to think about that, so I could keep myself from going mad with fear.

Fear is an interesting thing when you think about it. It heightens your senses to a point where every touch, every sound is magnified. If you don't focus it, it can drive you to the breaking point. So I did what I did when ever I was nervous about something.

I paced.

I picked myself out a small part of the shelter and paced back and forth, letting some images and stories I liked flow through my head so I could calm down a bit. When I got scared or nervous, or just hyper, I could talk a mile a minute.

My brother however became easily annoyed by my speech.

"Would you please SHUT THE HELL UP?!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm nervous. You know how I am when I'm nervous."

"So what? Sit your ass down and shut up. You are driving me crazy."

"Alright!"

So I tried to sit down. It worked for a bit, then my foot started tapping. Then my heal. 

Pretty soon my entire leg was shaking and tapping all over the place, keeping a nice beat. It seemed that sitting down had simply taken me one step closer to the edge of my own sanity. So I said to hell with it and started pacing again.

I could see Michael roll his eyes at me and give up while I went to my pacing and rambling.

I had just begum my rant on government conspiracies of the 1940's and 1950's when someone place their hand on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was and same one to the girls in my class. 

She was at the time the most beautiful site I could have hoped to see at the time. What was her name? I hadn't asked anyone aside from a few people who they were today. 

"Hi."

"Hi, aren't you new to our class?"

"Yes I am."

Now, I was never good at conversation. Made ramblings yes, conversation with people no. But a part of me decided that I should at least try to get this girls name. Then I could at least have a place to start from.

"My names Chris, what's your's?"

I saw Mike in the corner of my eyes just roll his eyes at me again. So what if I was inexperienced with females? Have to start somewhere.

"Mana, I couldn't help but over hear what you were saying about the Roswell crash. I thought I'd ask you more about it."

Eh? 

This girl, who I had just met, actually WANTED to hear about the Roswell cover-up of 1942? She actually wanted to listen to what could have been one of my more knowledgeable theories?

Cool.

So I went into it, telling her of all the reports and explanations given over the course of half a century. She simply listened and asked a few questions here and there. We went on like that for a while, even going on to the Alien Abduction phenomenon and crop circles. She actually had a few theories of her own, even going as far as to propose that they had been a prelude to the angel attacks. 

I think it was then that I decided I had found my first real friend here in this new place. And maybe, just maybe, the change of place wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

To Be Continued…

Authors Notes: Give you three guesses as to which Mana this is, and the first two don't count. Yes you are right, it is Mana Kirasawa, the Queen of the Damned ACC's herself if you ask TR his opinion of her. I figured a love interest for this story would help with the general feel I want to convey here. Something I could get people to relate to how things are to those of us who don't fight, but have to sit down and watch others fight for us. Granted, it could be said I'm not the perfect choice to write this due to my military background. But hey, someone had to.

Thanks to my pre-readers on this one, you were a big help. TR, Sare, Isamu, Random1377, Angel17, Weltall Elite, ShinRyuKen, Ken Sohryu, Blue Taboo, Rommel, and Negs. You helped out a hell of a lot.

C&C as always is welcome at both webmaster@darkscribes.org and ld25@msn.com 

Later


	3. All the Stars in the Sky

A View from the Wings

Chapter 3: All the Stars in the Sky

By: Lord Deathscythe

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

It had been about three weeks since the incident with what I later learned to be the Tenth Angel. During that time, Mana and I had become good friends, going out to movies or meals. She helped me out with my Japanese, and I could speak more easily with her and the other people around me. There were times I needed her to translate for me still, but they were getting fewer and farther in between. Mana was an even bigger help when it came to the homework they gave in class. I don't know how that old fossil of a teacher was able to give out so much homework when all he ever spoke of was Second Impact, as if we didn't already know enough about that meteor. We even went shopping on occasions, it was fun to watch her try on dresses and tell her what I thought. 

We were very close indeed, so close it made everything before I had come to Tokyo-3 seem like nothing. If the past is prologue, then my life was beginning chapter one.

I was still reeling from our last outing together when I got home. Mom saw me as I walked into the house, more like heard me humming and skipping a bit. She had that damned grin on her face, the one I knew meant she was gonna start digging into me for information. She could be so nosey when she wanted to be, but it meant that she cared about me to find out what I was doing and who I was with. She was a good woman.

I miss her.

"So, you have a good day with your girlfriend Cricket?"

I rolled my eyes at her, she always used that nickname for me. I still don't know where she came up with it. But I couldn't help but smile anyways. 

"Mom, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a friend who is a girl. And yes I did have a good day with Mana." 

"That's good. I told you you'd have fun here, didn't I tell you that?"

"Yes you did."

"So… when's the wedding?" She said with a grin on her face.

"MOTHER!" I cried out as I turned an interesting shade of crimson at the implication. 

"Hehehehehe, I'm just playin' with yah. Seriously though, you be careful okay? I don't want you getting hurt or to do something foolish just for a girl."

Always the protective one.

"Don't worry Mama, there won't be anyone calling you 'Grandma' for a while." I said, a confident smirk on my face. If she wanted to play the game, then we'd play. 

It had the desired effect, she paled slightly at the notion she was getting old, but quickly recovered. Mom wasn't too hung up on age to let that one get her too much. She chuckled. It was no secret that I felt I got my rather sadistic sense of humor from her. Tech stuff I got from Dad. We were both good when it came to computers. I just couldn't bring myself to make something I did for fun my career. I'd get so sick of it it would stop being fun. But then again I had a few more years before I had to make that decision.

Like I said before, I had all the time in the world. At least that's what I thought. I wish I could still hold onto that illusion these days.

I went to put my purchases from the day up. A few DVD's, some clothes Mana thought I looked good in, a CD or two, nothing major. Fact was I wasn't much of a shopper and I usually went with Mom to pick out clothes for myself. I had very simple tastes. But if Mana said I looked nice in them, then I must have.

Was I really so infatuated with her that her opinion of my clothes made such a difference? I suppose we were a bit closer then I had let on to Mom.

Maybe I should take Mana out on a real date, do something aside from shopping. Perhaps dinner and dancing?

I stopped at that thought. WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL WAS I THINKING?!

I needed to get a grip, we were friends nothing more. Granted, she'd be a great girlfriend if I asked but I was only fourteen. I wasn't supposed to be thinking about things like this. At least I didn't think I should. Only one thing for it.

Mana and I had taken a picture of us together, I scanned it into my computer and then logged onto the internet. I immediately caught some instant messages from my friends and fellow writers.

Angel17: Hey LD, What's up?

I had been online for about two years, and I felt I was a passable writer. So I got a few people I knew on net together and we started our own little web site. You may have heard of it. Darkscribes.org was my favorite little hobby project, and still is to this day. I still get some e-mails once in a while about it, wondering how I'm doing and when the next update will be. 

LD: Hey Angel, how's Missouri?

Angel17: Same as always this time of year, lots of thunderstorms rolling across the prairie. How you finding Tokyo-03? God knows you haven't been on much since you got there.

LD: It's pretty interesting. I have a few pictures to upload so you can take a look.

I proceeded to upload said pictures of the city. There weren't that many, but they were enough for everyone to get the general idea. It was at this time my partner in crime Random1377 showed up. Nice guy, but a bit on the perverted side. To this day we still call him "The Lemon Lord." 

Random1377: Hey LD, how's life in the land of the Rising Sun?

LD: You know, it's okay.  
  
Random1377: Meet any hot girls?  
  
Oh Random, why is it that you and my brother are so much alike when it comes to women? But then again, he was older then me. Maybe he could help me out with my problem.

LD: I'm glad you're on man, I need to ask you some things. I'm uploading some pictures of a girl I've been hanging with here. Tell me what you think.

Angel17: Whoa, LD with a girl? What is the world coming too? ::Smirk::

LD: Ha ha Angel.

I loaded up the pictures and put together some hyperlinks and thumbnails on the "LD' World" page. Typed in a few captions for my pics and sent the whole batch to the server. As soon as Random saw a them I knew I'd be in for it. Thank God TR, Sare, Isamu and BT were offline right now.

Random1377: DUDE! SHE'S HOT!!! You're doing her right?

Yup, that's exactly the reaction I expected of Random.

LD: Random, do I have to through you into the tentacle pit again?

Random1377: … I'll be good.

LD: Good.

Angel17: Good.

Not again, we'd always end up talking at the same time saying the exact same thing. It was a curse at times, but it helped when we went back and forth on story ideas. I figured that, if you put it into a percentage that her and I were 95% similar. But I could be wrong.

Angel17: So, you and her… dating?

LD: I suppose you could call it that. I mean we go to movies, shopping, she's showed me around town.

TommyRude: Sup. LD, I didn't know you were dating? Anything you'd like to share with us?

TommyRude, the "Original Anime Rudeboy" or "The Flamers Champ" depending on what you preferred. He was one of the most disliked people on the net, but one of my best netbuddies. Granted, he and his FY were rather… blunt at times, but we shared the same ideals when it came to our work. 

I'm just happy he never flamed me.

Random1377: TR, take a look at the pic on the site.

TR: You aren't dating a girl like that, TELL ME you AREN'T DATING a girl like that!

LD: I'm not dating a girl like that.

TR: Good, I was worried you had a better love life then me for a second.

LD: I'm dating THAT girl.

There was no response as TR was probably having a heart attack at that moment. I chuckled as more people came in and the news spread. Seemed everyone was pretty shocked by this. I don't see why honestly, I mean people start dating all the time. I guess it's just nice to talk about someone's good fortune or possible future problems on occasion.

I eventually logged off and went to eat dinner. Dad had gotten home early, so it looked like tonight we'd have dinner as a family tonight. That alone had become a rare occurrence since we arrived here. I enjoyed it.

I just wish that hadn't been one of the last few times we'd been together like that as a family.

--

The next day I headed out to school with Mike. Thankfully, the last Angel attack hadn't done too much damage to our side of town so the trip was pretty straight forward. If it changed at all I might have gotten lost, I never did have a good sense of direction. Mana met up with us near the coffee shop she and I would go to every now and again. Just seeing her made me smile for some reason. I never smiled much, just smirked if I thought something was amusing.

She handed me a tall cup of French vanilla coffee and Mike some chocolate milk. We walked, talking about the homework from last night and other things that were only really important to us. Mike eventually broke off from us to go walk with some of his pals leaving me and Mana to ourselves. Since it was Saturday we had a half day of school to get through and were planning on going to the mall later. 

I was looking forward to that. Some time alone with Mana and no one else to really bug us.

I had some thinking to do, and class would be the best place to do it. Not like we'd go over anything important with the instructor today, Second Impact had quickly become old news and I think I knew everything there could have been publicly known about that meteor.

--

My mind wandered during class, as the teacher droned on about something which to me at the time was rather unimportant. I kept thinking about Mana, and I mean REALLY thinking. What were we? Friends, something more then that? What did she think we were? Did she think we were more then just friends?

It was odd how things like that seemed to be the only thing important in the world, even more important then when the next Angel was about to attack. Our class had become a bit smaller due to all the people sending their kids to places safer then Tokyo-03. If we were just friends, or if we were becoming a real couple, then we had a real problem. There was a very real possibility that we would be separated, possibly forever. 

I couldn't just let her disappear like that. If we were a couple I had to do something quickly, and it had to be something big and important.

But what? Maybe I could ask someone for advice, someone I trusted with something this big. 

Well, that pretty much knocked Mike off the list. He may have been my brother, but he couldn't keep a secret even if his life depended on it.

Mom was out of the question, she'd do nothing but tease me about it and provide advice that was at least twenty years out of date.

Dad just didn't have the time lately.

Who could I trust with this?

I really didn't know that many people, and my only real friend here was Mana, which meant I couldn't ask her for help. I only had a passing acquaintances with most of the students in our class, and the only other person I had spoke too for more then fifteen seconds that seemed to have an ounce of decency had been Hikari…

Wait, that might just work. Yes, Hikari would be able to help me, and she probably could keep a secret real well.

I'll just ask her opinion on the subject. Then I'll have an idea of what I should do next, if there even is a next.

So I set off to seek the advice of the honorable class representative, like a man going to the Dalhi Lama.

To be Continued…

Authors notes – First off, before you guys start in on me about the whole chat room thing I want to clarify that I said this was going to be a True SI. I discuss a lot of things with all the other DS members all the time. The only problem I had was how to integrate certain parts of my net life into this fic. So don't get pissy about the gratuitous self-promotion of Darkscribes.org, it's just as much of who I am as anything else I've used in this fic so far.

C&C is as always welcome at webmaster@darkscribes.org and appreciated.

Pre-readers: SDB, Ghola, Random


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